Thanks to you for tuning in. Let`s get down to the business. Tonight`s Lead, Republicans continue to fear mongering today. New evidence about why the Republicans continue attacking the President`s policies even though they`re getting nowhere.

Why, because it`s personal. Today, the number two Democrat in the Senate, Senator Dick Durbin made a stunning revelation. He wrote on his Facebook page in a negotiation meeting with the President, one GOP House leader told the President, "I cannot even stand to look at you."

They can`t even stand to look at him? From day one, this relentless attack on Obamacare is deeper than policy. It`s about this president. Both Speaker Boehner and majority leader Eric Cantor denied the comment today. And a spokesman for the White House also denied it.

Senator Durbin has not commented, but there is no denying. Speaker Boehner`s fear mongering about Obamacare today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: We`ve got the whole threat of Obamacare continuing to hang over our economy like a wet blanket. Employers scare to death in terms of what they have to do, what they don`t have to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: Employers are scared to death? Really? To death?

And majority leader Cantor had the same talking points today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ERIC CANTOR (R-VA), HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER: The American people are now fearful of their health care. I mean, they`re down right scared about what`s going to happen with their health care next year.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: Americans are downright scared. Scared of what? Getting health coverage? But here`s what these GOP should be scared and what should scare the daylights out of the other Republicans.

Today, a poll backs up the other three after the shutdown showing approval of the Republican party is in free fall. Four polls, four record lows for the party. And as they go way, one way.

Look what`s happening to Obamacare. The approval is up in all four polls. More Americans are liking Obamacare, despite the problems with the Web site. And this is why the right wing talkers are dusting off their old, ugly playbook.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL O`REILLY, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: And here comes socialism. Obamacare is just part of a vision for the forced sharing of American assets. That`s a form of communism because no country could afford those payments without seizing the assets of everybody else.

GLEN BECK, RADIO TALK SHOW: He has all the earmarks of a Marxist dictator. He does. He doesn`t like anybody to challenge him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: Marxist dictator. Americans reject their war against the health care law. But like a deranged energizer bunny, Republicans just keep going, with the fear, with the hatred, with the ugliness. It`s no wonder they can`t stand to look at the president. He winning.

Joining me now are Joy Reid and Karen Finney.

Thanks for coming on the show.

Joy, they deny it. But can you see a Republican leader telling the president I cannot even stand to look at you?

JOY REID, MANAGING EDITOR, THE GRIO/MSNBC CONTRIBUTOR: The problem for the Republican party, Rev., is that yes, I can. I mean, if it was completely implausible that a member of the House of representative or the Unites States Senate would say something like that, I think that they`d have a reason to be outraged about the story and to attack Dick Durbin the way some have demanded he take it back, et cetera.

But the problem is, that they have created in themselves a party that really is that vicious. They`ve been outwardly rude in disrespectful to the president before. Members of the party have been. And their base doesn`t just disagree with the president. There`s a part of this base that absolutely hates this president.

SHARPTON: What you mean disrespectful to the president, you wouldn`t be talking about saying you lie during the middle of a state of the union address or asking for his birth certificate. So, why would we not believe Senator Durbin, the number two, Democrat in the Senate, when he says something that I get given things they`ve already done.

REID: And remember when Donald Trump and other people were rising to the top of the Republican heat in the primary, before the primary really got going in earnest. The criteria for being the number one Republican was just how much could you attempt to belittle the president.

The reason they liked Donald Trump is that he was trying to force the president shows his birth certificate. The more disrespectful, the more rude. They wanted somebody to put Barack Obama in his place. That is what they wanted out of a nominee. And to demonstrate that, you had to go further and further to the edge of complete disrespect for the office and the man.

SHARPTON: Yes. Well, he is in his place, the White House. But to that point, Republicans have spent a lot of time, Karen, fear mongering over Obamacare. Watch this. All from elected Republicans. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TED CRUZ (R), TEXAS: Men and women have looked me in the eyes and said I`m scared for this country. I`m scared for my kids. I`m scared for my grandkids.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The fear is that only the sick will pay to join the exchange.

CANTOR: Which health care plan can you afford so you can see your doctors. This is what keeps parents awake at night fearful that life is not going to work out the way they hope.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: Fearful, Awake at night. I mean, the bogeyman attached to health care for people that couldn`t get health care or any insurance, Karen.

KAREN FINNEY, MSNBC HOST, DISRUPT: well, and they`ve spent millions and millions and millions of dollars behind all of those talking points with ads that we`ve seen and probably some that we haven`t seen, frankly. And you know, there are all these crazy e-mails that go floating around with all different pieces of misinformation. I mean, you know, it is a very shameful legacy of the Republican party when this is all said and done.

They`ve worked harder than any party in American history to deny people health insurance. I mean, that is a shameful legacy. Rather than working with the president, rather than trying to improve the things they had may be had problems with, even though it contained Republican ideas, they decided that their strategy was going to be -- they were going to go all in on hate and fear mongering.

And instead, people are trying the system, and they`re saying, you know what, we like it. We need health care. It`s a problem. That`s part of their problem. If they`re not looking to solve problems, they`re looking to take Obama down.

SHARPTON: You know, when you look at it, Joy, Republicans have attacked this president in every which way and failed. That`s why they`re so enraged. They swore they`d make him a one-term president, but that didn`t work. Jim DeMint said healthcare would be his waterloo. But the Supreme Court upheld it. Then came the birther movement, sorry. Americans didn`t buy it.

Then it was all the scandals. Fast and furious. That went nowhere. Remember Solyndra? Neither do most Americans. Then they were going to impeach him over Benghazi until they couldn`t. They are going to impeach him over the IRS until they couldn`t. They were just going to impeach him, just over something, except they haven`t, and they won`t. And they were going to defund Obamacare, even shut down the government. That didn`t work either.

REID: Yes. And I think that there is this feeling, if you look at the Stan Greenberg and other research, they have this deep feeling of loss so that they keep losing to this president. And there is the sense among lots of base if they are losing because their leaders keep capitulating and letting the president roll over him. They have this narrative of that he`s a tie rant.

You heard Allen West say that. You heard Glen Beck say that. And this idea that in thus tyrannical way that elected president of the United States, twice elected by a popular majority, no question, no third party can they sort of sneaking them in. Elected outright. And they can`t understand how the world can be configured that their ideas are not popular and are not winning. So what they do is they just demonize the president because in fact, their ideas just keep losing.

SHARPTON: But Karen, the thing that is ironic is while they say that their leaders are capitulating, the president on the left is getting hit with capitulating too much and compromising too much. And he`s being, in many ways, in progressive and leftist circles seen as anything but a tyrant. They consider him too much a compromise in too many cases.

FINNEY: Some -- I mean, on the left, they`re disappointed that he`s not a socialist. Are you kidding me? I mean, with all these video, right? Like in the Republican, I mean, if you listen to the Republicans, he`s a socialist, Marxist, Islamist, you know, born in another country. I saw one crazy story today that said actually he lied about being born outside of the country because of, he wanted to get into college. I mean, you know, it just doesn`t stop.

But I think one of the things, Rev., about this, and you talked about this before that I think we have to mention as part of this is yes, he takes some hits from the left. But usually the hits from the left are based on substance and not style and not personal the way we`ve seen it come from the right. It`s all a part of this other ring of our president.

And one of the things as an American I`m frustrated by is I think it`s disgusting what they`ve done to this president in terms of using race and racial overtones. At the same time that`s denigrating the office of the presidency. They should not be denigrating the man and they should not be denigrating the office of the presidency.

SHARPTON: You know, Karen, how do you explain with them taking all these hits in the polls? They keep doing this over and over again and they are paying a terrific political price for it.

FINNEY: Yes. Well, I think some are starting to recognize that there is, there may be a real price. I mean, you know, you also see reports that some Democratic campaigns are now approaching business leaders. Some business leaders who might have open, you know, only supporting Republicans in the past.

But you know, Stan Greenberg, Greenberg research had a great piece out earlier this week that showed that Ted Cruz is actually kind of the mainstream in the Republican Party. And so, I think we have to look at that and say, if that`s true, then they must believe that their voters, regardless of the fact that they`re unpopular with the majority of Americans, they continue to be popular with that narrow base.

SHARPTON: Joy, do you think that the forecast now, that something that was unthinkable 90 days ago, six months ago, that the Democrats now are in play to retake the House is that just a temporary hype or is it now something that could be reality, given these record low polls for the Republicans?

REID: Right. I think it actually is a possibility. At least it`s more of a possibility than it was before the shutdown. And the reason for that is that it has not just tainted the tea party. It`s tainted the Republican brand itself. And you`ve had brand tainting event ever since the 2012, the 47 percent. Over time, the Republican brand has been denigrated, particularly with swing voters and suburban voter, what`s left in the Republican Party. And I think when people been think Republican, yes, it`s a year from now, but Democrats are not going to allow people to forget. And I think Republicans have themselves a very serious problem in the House and probably closed off any chance of getting the Senate.

SHARPTON: Karen Finney and Joy Reid, thank your time tonight.

REID: Thank you.

FINNEY: Thanks, Rev.

SHARPTON: And watch "Disrupt with Karen Finney" weekends at 4:00 p.m. eastern right here on MSNBC.

Ahead, the Republican shutdown free fall. How bad is it? A former Republican presidential candidate is calling out quote "ideological whack jobs."

And the evolution of anti-Obama conspiracy theories. How they go from the talkers to this voter in North Carolina?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not at all. Not one bit, not one breath that comes out of his body.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: Plus another day, another right-winger embracing the confederate flag. Only this time, the person`s eyeing the U.S. Senate.

Also, friend or foe, I want to know. :Reply Al" is ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SHARPTON: The tea party thinks Ted Cruz is the greatest thing since sliced bread. But some of those closest allies are now in real political trouble. Is the GOP cracking up? That`s next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SHARPTON: If you do unpopular things, you become unpopular. So how unpopular was the shutdown?

This unpopular. Four polls and four record lows for the GOP after the shutdown. Today, Ted Cruz`s right hand man, Utah Senator Mike Lee is feeling the heat. "The Washington Post` reports GOP backlash over the shutdown, a Romney campaign chairman called him a show horse who just wants to be a spectacle, his approval rating is down ten points since June.

So how`s the shutdown leader Ted Cruz doing? Well, the conservative chamber of commerce president says the business community would like Cruz to sit down and shut up. But he`s not ready for that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CRUZ: I`ll tell you, I`m hopeful. With a little bit of time and reflection that Senate Republicans would decide to come together again. I would love to see Republican unity, to have all of us stand together against this train wreck that is Obamacare.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: There is only one train wreck here, the GOP and is about to get worst.

In Ohio, pro-life groups and Republican lawmakers are suing Ohio to block the Medicaid expansion. The billionaire Koch brothers are funding state campaigns to deny poor people healthcare. Looks like the polls are about to go even lower.

Joining me now, Abby Huntsman and Michelle Cottle. Thank you for being here.

SHARPTON: Abby, the polls show the shutdown record lows but they don`t seem ready to change. Where is the party, the Republican party headed?

HUNTSMAN: It`s a little confusing, isn`t it? And then, especially when you look at Senator Ted Cruz, the poster child for this defund Obamacare was on arriving home last weekend to a standing ovation of nearly 800 people. And then you see his sidekick Senator Mike Lee from Utah arriving home last weekend with the opposite reaction when the most arguably the conservative state in the country saying, you know, we`re actually furious over your extreme antics. Not only have you embarrassed the party, but you have put the state in Utah in some trouble economically. They rely very much on, you know, the state parks and tourism which were shut down over the last three weeks.

So it`s a bit confusing. It`s a bit muddled. And you know, when we talked about this three months ago, about the races being challenged by the far right, we were pretty much sure that it was going to be an uphill battle for many on the right of center. But now when you look at the backlash of the shutdown, you look at the GOP`s taking a huge hit. And we`re now aware of just how deep the divide is.

So now, the question is, how is the backlash from the shutdown actually going to affect the primary, the midterm elections and that`s really anybody`s guess.

SHARPTON: You know, Abby, talking about Mike Lee, your father, former Republican governor John Huntsman who once employed Mike Lee in the governor`s office had some strong words for him today. He said and I`m quoting your father. "You don`t have ideological whack jobs for all of this labeling, all of its labeling as a red state underneath it all. Utah is a pretty pragmatic western state, a just get it done ethos."

HUNTSMAN: He`s exactly right. You know, as I said, Utah is the most conservative state in the country, but at the end of the day, they`re the type of conservative, they want lower taxes, they want smaller government. They believe in strong family values. And you know what they want, they want their elected officials to solve their problems. They actually want them to govern.

And I think you see something different in Texas. That`s a whole different bucket of conservatism. But I`m glad that my dad stepped in because that is exactly right. And I wouldn`t be surprised if Mike Lee was actually challenged by a moderate Democrat complaint (INAUDIBLE) who was very well like in the state of Utah, very strong. He was congressman for number of year. You may see that play out. You may see a Democratic senator in Utah in a few years.

SHARPTON: How much trouble are they in, Michelle?

COTTLE: Well, I think with the house, you don`t have the same dynamic, because you do it district by district. And a lot of the guys who were trying to shutdown Obamacare are from safe districts where expected to do this.

But it does get interesting when you start looking at senators who have to appeal to an entire state. And a big question starts to be, you know, how alienated is the business community which doesn`t like this kind of nonsense. It doesn`t like shutdowns that impact the economy.

You know, if the Republican Party some starts alienating its big business donors, then, it`s just going to wind up relying on, you know, the senate conservatives fund and tea party donors. And that will be an interesting split that could impact them in the long run.

SHARPTON: And then, you know, Michelle, you talk about the Senators roll call, put together a list of seven Republican senators who are most vulnerable to a primary challenge. And the list includes Mitch McConnell, Lindsey Graham and John Cornyn. Now, these are not freshmen senators. Graham and Cornyn have been senators for a decade, McConnell for nearly 30 years.

COTTLE: Exactly. And I think McConnell was the most interesting case because obviously, he`s the Republican leader, you know. That said, a lot of those races are very early, and they`re expected to come off the endangered list as we go down the road. But McConnell has a fight on his hands. I mean, he is facing this tea party challenger. And the more money he has to spend and the more attacks he suffers kind of weakens him going what is right now a pretty strong Democratic challenger, stronger than he`s had in a while.

HUNTSMAN: You know, you can already see the ads against McConnell from the far-right showing him buddy-buddy with Harry Reid. I think the choice is going to be very clear between the far right candidate and a Mitch McConnell. You either will see him as someone that was pretty heroic in the shutdown wanting to work together with the other side to get things done or as someone that portrayed weakness. The guy that blinked, you know, when he shouldn`t have.

So, I think you can already picture how that one is going to play out. It will be interesting to see if he can pull it out in the end.

SHARPTON: Yes. And I`m sure we are going to see a lot of those photos.

Michelle, what opportunities does any of this present to the Obama administration once we get past the Web site glitches as an issue. Are there any opportunities in this kind of new political landscape that you can see for the Obama administration?

COTTLE: Well, if we`re talking about the Obamacare going forward, I mean, he`s got a pretty good argument to make that the Republicans had their shot and it`s time for them to come together, and they can address whatever specific fixes need to be made. You know, as far as other issues, I think immigration, he`s planning to come out charging on this and say OK, we`ve all had our fun. We have all had our tantrum. We need to once again hunker down and do the Americans` work. And in fact, this is exactly what he said post-shutdown in his address the next day.

SHARPTON: All right, Abby Huntsman and Michelle Cottle, thank you both for your time.

And catch Abby on "the Cycle" weekdays at 3:00 right here on MSNBC.

Coming up, Rush Limbaugh and friends are a factory of anti-Obama conspiracy. Tonight, we`ll show you what happens when their listeners start to believe the smears.

But first, nice try we got you. The head of RNC talks a big game about outreach, but not everyone got the message. We`re looking at you, North Carolina, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SHARPTON: The first step is admitting there`s a problem. And after the election, RNC chair Reince Priebus vowed to reach out to minority voters. This week in North Carolina, the RNC opened and African-American engagement office in Charlotte and hailed it as a historic moment for the party. That`s great news. I applaud this outreach.

But on the same day, the same day the African-American engagement office opened, Republican state officials were asking a federal court to throw out lawsuits over North Carolina`s strict voter ID law which disproportionate lay effect minority voters.

That doesn`t sound like very effective outreach to me. So, let`s hear from the governor Pat McCrory. I`m sure he was at the great opening. Wait, he wasn`t there? He was in Washington speaking at Jim DeMint`s heritage foundation defending his radical voter ID law?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. PAT MCCRORY (R), NORTH CAROLINA: I think the Eric Holder`s lawsuit is both political and without merit. As our laws have been greatly exaggerated. It`s common sense reform which protects the integrity of our ballot box.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: Common sense? How is the most draconian voter ID law in the country common sense? Of the seven million votes cast in the 2012 election in North Carolina, there was a 0.000714 percent fraud rate. How is it common sense to find a solution to a problem that doesn`t exist. They aren`t trying to reach out.

At the same time, making it harder for the African-American voters to vote? Reince Priebus and Governor McCrory, did you think we wouldn`t see through this PR stunt? Nice try. But I have a new voter ID card for you, both of you. It reads, we got you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SHARPTON: The far right talkers on TV and radio will say just about anything to attack President Obama. Kicking around stuff that only makes sense in their own right-wing bubble.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUSH LIMBAUGH, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: This is what we have. As a president, a radical ideologue, ruthless politician who despises the country.

GLENN BECK, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Invited the Muslim brotherhood and their leadership into our White House.

BILL O`REILLY, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: The American voter has changed into a person who wants free stuff.

BECK: Please spare us your Marxist propaganda bull crap.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: But all this toxic rhetoric does, doesn`t just go into a vacuum. Millions of people listen to these conspiracy theories and start to believe them.

MSNBC contributor Jonathan Capehart found that out first hand. He traveled to North Carolina and heard conservatives reveal their true feelings about the president. He was struck by one man in particular who repeated a lot of what we`ve heard on the far right, including this talking point about Muslim brotherhood.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: About two years ago the Muslim brotherhood had a thousand of their people come to east lawn for a prayer session.

JONATHAN CAPEHART, MSNBC CONTRIBUTOR: The Muslim Brotherhood had --

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: They a huge gathering. They had prayer on the east lawn of the White House. It was in the news. There are so many people within his administration that are part of it. They`re admitted members of the Muslim brotherhood.

CAPEHART: Who, who exactly?

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: I don`t know their -- they`re not English.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: Giant Muslim prayer meetings on the east lawn of the White House? There is no east lawn of the White House. And the theory that the Muslim brotherhood has infiltrated the Obama administration? It seems like a joke, but it can be traced back to the talkers. And even members of Congress.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: You will see that he is so deeply in bed with the Muslim brotherhood.

SARAH PALIN (R), FORMER ALASKA GOVERNOR: Anytime in any nation that they could choose the side of the Muslim brotherhood, they`ve chosen the side of the Muslim brotherhood.

REP. LOUIE GOHMERT (R), TEXAS: This administration has so many Muslim brotherhood members that have influence that they just are making wrong decisions for America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: And this isn`t the only fringe theory about the president that`s getting picked up across the country. Here`s more of Jonathan`s interview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: He has done so many things in violation of the constitution.

CAPEHART: You don`t think President Obama loves this country?

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Not at all. Not one bit, not one breath that comes out of his body.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: This man thinks the president doesn`t love this country or follow the constitution. That is no mystery where he got at idea.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LIMBAUGH: This man hates this country.

SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS HOST: He is the president of a country that clearly, I`m beginning to wonder if he even likes.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: The constitution does not confer this kind of power on the president.

LIMBAUGH: He`s in the process of wreaking as much damage to the constitution as he can get away with.

SHARPTON: The right wing talkers` point is venom into the conservative groundwater. People start to believe it, and it is totally waltzed our political debate.

Joining me now is Jonathan Capehart who conducted that interview. Thanks for being here, Jonathan.

CAPEHART: Thank you, Rev.

SHARPTON: Claiming the president doesn`t love this country that his administration has members of the Muslim brotherhood, I mean, what is your reaction?

CAPEHART: Well, remember, we went to so many -- our colleague and I went down to North Carolina to talk to people on the eve of the launch of the health care exchanges just to find out what folks thought about ObamaCare, whether they liked it and how much they knew about it. And for David Jackson, the man we`ve seen the clips of the interview from, that was the beginning, or the tip of the iceberg for the amount of misinformation and conspiracy theories that he held onto.

When he talked about the prayer service where 1,000 members of the Muslim brotherhood on the east lawn of the White House, you couldn`t see my face, but I just sort of looked at him, that`s a story. Who was it? When was this? He said it was on the news. But of course we all know that that didn`t happen, and as you rightly pointed out, there is no east lawn of the White House.

SHARPTON: It would be funny, but this is real. I mean, another conspiracy this man bought into is, was that Osama bin Laden wasn`t really killed. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAPEHART: What about the capture and killing of Osama bin Laden?

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: I don`t think that ever really happened. No one would ever give up a SEAL team`s names or what SEAL team went in there. I think that was a great mystery that they created. I do not believe they killed him. I will never believe it. Especially dropping him off at sea.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: Now Jonathan, you really looked shocked there. But what was going through your mind?

CAPEHART: Well, I mean, it was, I heard so many things, Rev, in that interview that I thought I was on top of a lot of this stuff, but I`d never heard any one question the killing of Osama bin Laden, adding to the list of conspiracy theories that people on the far right believed about this --

SHARPTON: But that`s where it comes from Jonathan. Because listen to this. Because, it amazed me when I heard it. But listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: Is it possible that Osama bin Laden has been ghosted out of his compound?

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Do you believe he`s dead? Or do you want some more evidence, a photograph, a testimony of an eyewitness, something other than the words of a president whose words we have doubted before.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Ladies and gentlemen, this was completely staged.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: I mean, this is about national security. Shouldn`t be politicized. But why wouldn`t they accept the truth?

CAPEHART: You know, Rev, I don`t know, other than to say that they have never liked this president. They have never trusted this president. As David Jackson told me flat out, he said I`m not afraid of anyone, but I am afraid of him. They don`t like him. They don`t trust him. And they don`t believe anything that he says, even when you present them with evidence that what they`re saying, what they`re propagating is not true.

SHARPTON: Now the man you interviewed, David Jackson, had some intense opinions about ObamaCare too. Let`s listen to more of your interview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: It will benefit a very small amount of people. And it will be the ones that are too lazy or unwilling to work. Along with the millions and millions of illegal aliens in this country. Look at them. They`re getting food stamps. They get welfare. They get aid for dependent children. They get food. They help them with their housing. And they`re not even supposed to be in our country. They want our health care. They want our food. They want our money. They don`t pay taxes. And they`ll look right at you and tell you I don`t speak English and laugh.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: I mean, first of all, undocumented immigrants can`t get insurance under the Affordable Care Act. And we hear the same talking points, though, Jonathan, about immigrants and benefits from the right wing. Listen to this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: They`re encouraging illegal immigrants to apply for food stamps. In other words, you pay for it.

LIMBAUGH: They represent the demographic profile the Democrats want. They want relatively poor people that depend on government for their prosperity.

BECK: Why doesn`t mom just say I need to go across so I can get the free health care at the hospital right there?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: Why is it so significant that these talkers are connecting and influencing these Americans? Because the point of this is not just to expose some of the things, the untruths this man obviously believes, but to show how these talkers and these opinion builders on the right are really sinking in to really average Americans who believe this stuff.

CAPEHART: Right. Some of the things that Rush Limbaugh or Glenn Beck or any of these other folks say might be done for entertainment purposes. We can`t really know if they really believe half of the hyperbolic stuff that they say, but the problem is they`ve got huge audiences. And as we see with David Jackson and millions of other people, they believe it. One of the reasons why the whole birther conspiracy or birther lie was kept going for so long was because they kept whipping this up. And even with the short form, short version of the president`s birth certificate, and even after the release of the long form of the president`s birth certificate there were people who still would not believe the truth when it was staring them directly in the face.

SHARPTON: Great interview, Jonathan Capehart. Great work. Thank you for your time tonight.

CAPEHART: Thank you, Rev.

SHARPTON: And for more of Jonathan`s interview, head to our Facebook page. Facebook.com/POLITICSNATION.

Still ahead, we`ve seen it waved in front of the White House. But now a potential Senate candidate is embracing the confederate flag as well.

Plus, she`s one of Sarah Palin`s original mama grizzlies. But now a Tea Party congresswoman has everyone talking once again. Wait until you see why.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SHARPTON: One hundred fifty years after the emancipation proclamation, the legacy of slavery is suddenly back in our political debate. Today Mother Jones reported that a rising Tea Party star in Mississippi who`s launching a primary challenge of a GOP senator spoke this summer at a neo-confederate group that promotes succession. The official flyer for the group invited all you politically incorrect folks to dress out in confederate uniforms and antebellum ball gowns. On their website, you can see photos of these folks playing, dressed up during past events. Come out in their confederate best. This year we`ve seen a confederate flag waved outside the White House and more and more right-wingers making offensive comments about slavery.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: ObamaCare is really, I think, the worst thing that has happened in this nation since slavery. And it is in a way, it is slavery.

LIMBAUGH: The Republicans, well, we can`t do anything to about it. The law is the law. It`s the law of the land. Well, so was slavery one time the law of the land.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: When a government forces hospitals and physicians to provide free health care to those who can`t or won`t pay for it themselves, that`s not charity, that`s slavery.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: This insurance card in people`s pockets is going to be as worthless as a confederate dollar after the War Between the States, the Great War or Yankee Aggression

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: All of this represents a profound misreading of American history and of African-American history in particular. The country needs a better understanding of the black experience in America, past, present, and future.

That`s why I was so happy to have a chance to speak with Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates and investor Glenn Hutchins who donated $15 million to help Professor Gates launch the new Hutchens Center for African and African-American research. The largest center of its kind in the country. I began by asking Dr. Gates why the center was so important now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY LOUIS GATES, JR., HARVARD PROFESSOR: I think that the challenge of race and class differentials, the greatest challenge to American democracy that we can possibly face in the 21st century. And we need think tanks, the equivalent of sort of centrist to the Brookings or the Aspen Institute, for the study specifically of the interactivity of race and class. And that`s what the Hutchens Center is going to able to do.

SHARPTON: Why is this is so important to you, Glen?

GLENN HUTCHINS, CO-FOUNDER, SILVER LAKE: What we`ve been able to do with this effort is to create the world`s leading center for African-American studies by a wide margin. It`s going to be a center of excellence, and the opportunity to be associated of something that importance, it is a real privilege for me. And secondly, it`s a very important topic that, you know, people with the election of Barack Obama, you know, all sorts of talk about living in a post-racial society and then we had something like the Trayvon Martin decision. We realized there are still lots of things for us to talk about.

SHARPTON: Right.

HUTCHINS: And lots of understanding and gaps that needed to be bridged in reconciliation and understand the -- and so to be able to create the dominant, the juggernaut in the field, something that`s so important for our society, it`s a unique opportunity. For me it looks like, I`m investor. It`s a great investment.

SHARPTON: What do you hope the center in doing this, what do you and what do you Glenn hope we address in a contemporary setting?

GATES: We talk frequently, as you well know, about the need for a conversation about race. And by that, we usually are spurge to have that conversation by a terrible tragedy. And then we get together. We have the left and the right. We try to voice for press feelings and come to some kind of harmonious result at the end of the day. Then two weeks later, Reverend, it happens all over again. We need the story of our people, the story of race to be an inextricably, intertwined part of the story of American history. As much as I love black history months started of course by --

SHARPTON: Right.

GATES: It`s not enough. Every day has to be black history month. And we have to do it without the banners, without the signals and without the flags.

SHARPTON: Glenn, last year at around, table hosted by the Wall Street Journal you said, and I`m quoting you, a lot of people think the system doesn`t serve them, that the American dream is broken. How does your work with this new center help to repair that dream?

HUTCHINS: I`d like for us to focus on rising inequality in our country, because I`m very interested in economic issues as an investor and someone who worked in the White House and other places on economic matters. Skip has told me that since Martin Luther King died, the black upper middle class has expanded by a factor of four, the black middle class by a factor of two.

GATES: That`s right.

HUTCHINS: Exact right, but the same percent of children, amount of chair have been born into poverty. These have all been aggravated by the financial crisis and the very slow recovery we`ve been in where the job creations been so anemic.

SHARPTON: Right.

HUTCHINS: And to get that, how we can address those set of issues, I think will be a very important contribution we can make.

GATES: We have to figure out how to increase the science of the black middle class. How to move people from the no class -- middle class and nobody is talking about that. And that`s what we want to --

HUTCHINS: And important thing about a center that we have is we`re reaching out into the community. This is taking the ideas that are generated in the university and bringing them to the community.

SHARPTON: Let me ask you this, Glenn, you and Henry traveled together this summer to the anniversary to march on Washington. One of the things I remember looking out there and you actually were together, your son took a class from Henry. I mean, this, what I called unusual, different relation has gotten very personal. Why, what happened? And what --

HUTCHINS: You`re missing the most important person who was with us that day, which was my 93 year old mother who had been there 50 years ago, unlike the rest of us.

GATES: Yes. That`s right.

HUTCHINS: And she was the one who insisted that we go and she was sitting in her wheelchair right there between the two of us.

SHARPTON: Yes.

HUTCHINS: Which was great.

GATES: That was fantastic.

HUTCHINS: I call her miss marguerite.

(LAUGHTER)

SHARPTON: And she was at the original march.

HUTCHINS: Yes. Fifty years ago. And she insisted we bring her back.

SHARPTON: And what was that experience like for you and your mother sitting there with Henry Lewis Gates?

HUTCHINS: To see all the young people there who were engaged in this again.

SHARPTON: Yes.

HUTCHINS: The one thing I would have been disappointed if it was been like one of those rock concerts where everybody`s over 50 years old.

SHARPTON: Right.

HUTCHINS: You know what I mean?

SHARPTON: Yes.

HUTCHINS: And to have all the young people there and have them across a variety of kind of skin colors. You know, I mean, just, and to have them feel a new called action was a cause of great optimism for me.

SHARPTON: I`m going to have to leave it there. We`re excited about this, though. And we hope to come and see the center.

GATES: Thank you. And you know, it`s the largest single donation in the history of the field of African-American study.

SHARPTON: Wow!

Plus, the Henry Lewis Gates and Glenn Hutchins, thank you both for your time tonight.

HUTCHINS: Thank you so much.

GATES: Thank you.

SHARPTON: The Hutchins Center launched earlier this month with an art gallery designed studio, Research Institute and even a hip-hop archive. It`s an important resource center. If you`re up in the Boston area, it`s definitely worth visiting.

One of Sarah Palin`s mama grizzlies is making headlines for all the wrong reasons. That`s next.

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SHARPTON: GOP Congresswoman Renee Ellmers is known for many things. For example, she`s one of the original mama grizzlies that Sarah Palin helped sweep into office. Another thing she`s known for, a stance on gun control. She hates it. But don`t worry. She believes in gun safety. On her website, it says that the congresswoman, quote, "believes that gun owners must be responsible for the use and care of their guns."

Well, how about that? That makes this headline interesting. Quote, "An unsecured AR-15 rifle was reported stolen from Representative Ellmers` home. Well, that`s not really her fault, I mean, surely it was locked up, right? Wrong. Quote, "The weapon had been left leaning up against a gun locker in an unlocked garage." Now the weapon belonged to Ellmers` son and the congresswoman wasn`t home at the time, but instances like this prove we need stricter gun laws, right?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. RENEE ELLMERS (R), NORTH CAROLINA: Guns in the hands of criminals are a problem. And until we address those issues, and until we address the issues that lead to crime in our society, then we`re going to continue to have this problem.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: Folks, a gun in the hand of a criminal is definitely a problem. But so is leaving an assault rifle unlocked in the garage.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SHARPTON: It`s time for Reply Al. Remember, friend or foe, I want to know. Connie writes, "Will the Tea Party House members make up the $24 billion that we lost in their 16-day shutdown?"

No, I don`t believe they will. I think that they are even still determined to try to block ObamaCare or the Affordable Care Act. I think what we should be doing is planning to retire those members of Congress that are responsible for the shutdown and are not protecting the American people and getting health care for those that need it.

Thanks for watching. I`m Al Sharpton. "HARDBALL" starts right now.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. END

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